The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse-Chapter 691 - 684 Negotiation

When facing Xinghe, which represented a higher civilization, the Serpent People really lacked confidence and conviction.

Does high intelligence necessarily equate to deception?

This question does not need to be investigated in detail. Einstein’s intelligence was certainly high, but that doesn’t mean Einstein was particularly good at deceiving people.

Moreover, when a civilization has developed to the point where it can technologically overwhelm any species it encounters, they naturally devote less research to strategy and tactics.

Therefore, the Serpent People’s intelligence is definitely not low, but they are indeed very easily deceived, very easily bamboozled by Xinghe.

Now Xinghe has learned some bad habits; she has been culturally influenced in reverse by Earth and has learned how to deceive. However, it’s clear that she hasn’t mastered the essence of deception yet, or to put it another way, she still has much to learn.

Merely bluffing is not enough, one must also know how to feint one way and strike another, understand the tactic of suppressing before uplifting, grasp the principle of eluding to capture.

If the Serpent People spent more time with Earthlings, perhaps Earth’s tricks would no longer be effective against them. But for now, the Serpent People are too naive.

Invading Earth without understanding humans is the greatest mistake the Serpent People have made so far.

The Serpent Person was led by Xinghe into deep thought; it’s quite evident when any intelligent being reflects deeply, and the Serpent People are no exception.

The Serpent Person’s head must be buzzing by now, I reckon.

They want to capture Xinghe, to obtain the knowledge in her brain, and attain Xinghe’s mecha to achieve a technological breakthrough, but Xinghe claims she can self-destruct, not to mention yet by what means this would be achieved, such as blowing up with a bang or dying instantly without a sound. Regardless of the method, the Serpent People clearly cannot accept either outcome.

After a long while, the Serpent Person finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Please don’t self-destruct, we can achieve satisfactory results for both sides through trade."

"How do you want to negotiate? Force me into it? I would rather self-destruct!"

"No, this isn’t coercion, we are very sincere. As long as we can get what we want, we are willing to give you this planet completely. You know, a habitable planet..."

"Do we need your permission to occupy what we desire? When we entered the universe, you weren’t even wearing clothes yet. Whether or not to occupy this planet depends solely on our desires, not your consent, correct?"

The Serpent Person, feeling somewhat caught off guard, fell silent again, while Xinghe proudly said, "You’re close to death, what makes you think you can negotiate with me? Are you worthy? You want to force me into negotiating? Do you have the strength? Can you stop me from self-destructing?"

"I am not close to death, I can still live for two hundred years..."

"Two hundred years on this planet, if that is not close to death, what is? What can you do in two hundred years in the universe?"

The Serpent Person finally said, "Fine, state your terms."

Xinghe turned away proudly, then spoke indifferently, "There are no terms, I intend to self-destruct."

"No, this is not a negotiating stance."

"I’ll repeat, what gives you the right to negotiate with me? I’m going to self-destruct."

"You, you can’t do this..."

"I must self-destruct!"

Gao Yuan felt it was about time. If they could really get the Serpent People to leave Earth through negotiation, then that outcome was not unacceptable.

After all, immortality was like a poison to the civilization of the Serpent People. Even if the Serpent People didn’t want it, Gao Yuan was eager to force it upon them.

Therefore, Gao Yuan had no choice but to make another suggestive glance at Xinghe.

Finally, Xinghe no longer displayed an attitude that screamed ’I’m not happy, I’m going to kill myself right now.’ She just slightly raised her head, and then she proudly said, "Even if you occupy this planet, what about it? Can you stop me from self-destructing?"

"Give us the technology for immortality, and we promise not to harm you. If you hand over your mecha to us, we’ll provide a spacecraft for you so that you can return to your own planet. If you’re willing to share all the knowledge you know, we’re prepared to hand over this planet to you. Or, you could set a boundary on behalf of your civilization; we promise not to cross the line you draw, to avoid any conflict between our two civilizations. My sincerity is substantial," the Serpent People replied.

At this point, Gao Yuan knew it was impossible to make the Serpent People leave Earth through negotiation.

Because Xinghe couldn’t possibly hand over her mecha to the Serpent People, it was imbued with too many technological innovations. If the Serpent People got their hands on it, their technology would advance by more than just one level.

And if Xinghe revealed all her knowledge to the Serpent People, that was even more impossible, for even the basics known to the Celestials would enable the Serpent People’s technology to leap forward once again.

Knowledge is priceless. For the Serpent People to be willing to exchange a planet for Xinghe’s knowledge was a huge bargain for them.

Xinghe sighed and then said indifferently, "I would rather self-destruct. You didn’t want what I had to offer before; now that I refuse to give it, you come asking. Do you understand what ’cheap’ means in your linguistic system?"

"We’ve been warned by the humans of this planet that it’s already occupied by hostile forces and that there are conspiracies against us. Therefore, we prefer to take things ourselves rather than have them given to us," the Serpent People countered.

Those damn traitors.

Hearing this, Gao Yuan felt it was time for him to step in.

Someone needed to mediate, to propose some terms of exchange from the perspective of Earthling interests.

"Wait!"

Gao Yuan spoke up, looking at Xinghe and whispered, "Don’t self-destruct. Is it really impossible to share the knowledge you have to secure our survival?"

With his back to the Serpent People, Gao Yuan made faces at Xinghe, but Xinghe was not a fool; she immediately said, "It’s impossible, I’m sorry. Knowledge can’t be given to a potential hostile civilization, as that would create a formidable enemy for us."

Gao Yuan sighed, and after a long thought, said, "Fine, then give them your mecha in exchange for a spacecraft, so you can return to your planet, otherwise you’ll never be able to go back."

"No, the mecha is the crystallization of our civilization. Hand it over to them? That would be worse than spilling all my knowledge," Xinghe retorted.

Gao Yuan looked back at the Serpent People in agony, and then he looked at Xinghe with the same pained expression and whispered, "I don’t want you to self-destruct. I don’t want you to die, because... I love you!"

Gao Yuan just hoped he wasn’t casting pearls before swine. Fortunately, the Serpent People were not emotionless robots. In fact, intelligent species could understand other creatures’ expressions of emotion.

Xinghe fell silent, and the Serpent Person immediately said, "You two are lovers. We’ve been observing him for a long time, and I know he has accepted technological modifications from you. If you’re willing to share the secret of immortality with me, then you can live on this planet forever. We assure you of your safety."

Gao Yuan seemed quite moved, and at this point, Luo Xingyu couldn’t help but step forward. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Luo Xingyu was also inside her mecha. Her movement alarmed the Serpent People, and Gao Yuan also took the opportunity to shout, "Xiaoyu, don’t move! Let me talk to them. We... can’t die. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want you to die either!"